In response to the hurt and anger of our Black communities, other states and communities all across the country are removing their Confederate symbols. Yet the Maryland Legislature has failed to act to remove our Confederate Symbol – our State Song, Maryland, My Maryland, whose lyrics honor a secessionist government that waged war to preserve white supremacy and the enslavement of millions of people, including the ancestors of our fellow citizens.

Hopefully, with your help, this is about to change. For the past two years, WDC has been advocating for legislation that will repeal Maryland, My Maryland as a symbol of our State. WDC members have testified at Committee Hearings, written Letters to the Editor, and contacted our County and State Legislators. Recently, both the Maryland House Speaker Adrienne Jones and Senate President Bill Ferguson have gone on record in the Washington Post as strongly supporting the removal of Maryland, My Maryland as a symbol of our State.

Here’s what you can do:

1.      Call or email your County Council Member and ask them to support a resolution that prohibits Maryland, My Maryland from being performed at public Montgomery County events, including public school events and graduations, and to register the Council’s support for the removal of Maryland, My Maryland as a symbol of our wonderful State. Here is a link to our Council’s contact information. 

2.      Call or email your State Senator and Delegates and ask them to publicly support the repeal of Maryland, My Maryland as our State Song, regardless of whether there is a replacement, and agree to co-sponsor a future bill that does this in 2021. WDC hopes that our entire Delegation will agree to this action. Here is a link to our Delegation’s contact information.

3.      Email the Pimlico Race Track here and ask them to join with other sports organizations all across our country, like NASCAR, that are forbidding the display of Confederate symbols, by stopping the performance of our Confederate State Song Maryland, My Maryland before the Preakness - watched by over two million people. 

Working together, we can create the change we want to see. Symbols like our State Song represent hate, not history. We need a State symbol that says “All are welcome in today’s Maryland.”